Insect identification > Hemiptera > Water skaters

Water skaters

Family Gerridx. - These insects, the water skaters or water striders as they are commonly called, are often noticed during the summer, skating over the surface of quiet pools of water.

Their bodies are slender in most cases, less than half an inch long, usually black or brown, and their long, slender legs project some distance from the body.

A few are shorter and broader bodied. They feed on any small insects they are able to capture and winter either under sticks or stones under water, or in mud near the edge, under leaves and rubbish.